In a poll year, Chavan doesn’t want star-power for advertising

As the state Assembly elections are nearing, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is said to be averse to roping in a celebrity to advertise the achievements of the Congress-NCP government.

The Directorate General of Information and Publicity has a budget of a whopping Rs 92 crore this fiscal, and has planned an advertising blitzkrieg.

“Despite suggestions that a celebrity be used for advertisements, Chavan is averse to the idea. He would like the focus to be on the common man and how the government’s initiatives have benefited him,” government sources said.

“The government is likely to stick to the traditional advertising,” sources said, adding that political advertising would be handled by the Congress party, and not the government.

Chavan opened a twitter account when the Lok Sabha elections campaign started, but he does not use the platform regularly.

Last week he tweeted about the government’s decision to provide reservations to Marathas and Muslims, and also gave information about his meetings regarding monsoon delay situation and MMRDA projects.

The ruling coalition in the state faced an unprecedented rout in the Lok Sabha elections that concluded in May.